sneak peek - Lynette M. Burrows

Sneak Peek: If I Should Die Chapter 6

Welcome to sneak peek, If I Should Die Chapter 6. This is the sixth (Duh) installment of sneak peeks at my WIP (work-in-progress). If you’ve already read chapters 1-5, skip the synopsis and recap and go to the section labeled chapter 6.

This symbol is a red shield bisected by a white cross. White stylized angel wings hover along side the upper third of the shield. The Fellowship Shield is a symbol that invokes fear for the characters of If I Should Die, Chapter 6 and for the whole book.

If I Should Die is book two in The Fellowship Dystopia Series (formerly called the My Soul to Keep series.) It’s the continuation of Miranda’s story (book one, My Soul to Keep).

Miranda has built a successful Safe Harbor rescue system across the inland waters of the United States. Refugees from the religious oppression of the Fellowship find safety and freedom aboard the Safe Harbor boats. But now her brother needs rescued so he can complete his mission. She’s committed to helping him, but she’s a peace-loving woman. Will she resort to violence and save lives or stick to her principles and sacrifice many?

ReCap

Chapter One: Miranda pilots her yacht, the Lady Angelfish, up the Missouri River to rescue her brother, but the U.S. Coast Guard and a Second Sphere agent stop her for a “routine” inspection. You can read a brief sample or watch me read the entire Chapter One.

Chapter Two: Irene, Miranda’s sister, can’t believe she’s the wife of the newly appointed Prophet. Nor can she believe she’s at the White House sitting with President Joseph Kennedy Jr. But there are drawbacks to being the Prophet’s wife. When she’s offered a role in a new “secret” project, she’s more than intrigued. You can watch me read the entire Chapter Two or read a brief sample.

Chapter Three: As a nighttime thunderstorm rages, Beryl tries to persuade Miranda to wait. But Miranda insists she must go ashore to find her brother. And since Beryl has sworn to protect Miranda, she must go too. But when someone sneaks up on them, Beryl’s hesitation to shoot endangers them. You can watch me read the entire Chapter Three or read a brief sample.

Chapter Four: After Miranda rescues her brother, he insists she’s in danger because his refugee claims that the Azrael are being reborn. Beryl reminds him that they destroyed the island with all the equipment and records for how to clone Azrael. Miranda can’t help but believe that since they had a Second Sphere agent on board, the Lady Angelfish earlier in the day and he didn’t recognize them, they are safe.You can watch me read the entire Chapter Four or read a brief sample.

Chapter Five: Irene is enjoying a day out with her daughters. Their visit to an ice cream parlor erupts into pandemonium when a car bomb explodes nearby. Life interrupted and delayed the YouTube video of this reading, but it should appear soon. Or you can read a brief sample.

If I Should Die, Chapter 6

By Lynette M. Burrows ©2020

Beryl gripped the pilot’s wheel tighter. She had a bad feeling about this trip. And so far she’d been right. Everything had gone wrong.

Submerged rocks and snags, the rock jetties that lined the shores, and the river’s rapid current made the Missouri a navigation nightmare under normal circumstances. Now they also had a river littered with debris from the storm. Silent projectiles and snags that lay in wait for them. How did Miranda avoid scuttling the Lady last night? In the dark with the storm stirred water, there’s no way she could have seen everything. Luck? More than luck?

Beryl had delayed launch because of the early morning fog. Finally, when the sun had burned off the fog and warmed the air, she launched. Only a half-hour upriver debris foul the props and before she’d caught on to the problem, flooded and overheated the engines. Somehow Wanda cleared the props and the flooded engines in a little less than an hour. Once bitten, Beryl didn’t let her attention waiver.

She slowed the engines and guided the boat around whatever sunken object lay beneath another bump in the water. Got the boat back into the travel lane. The slap of water on rocks made a percussion counterpoint to the burble of the engines.

Behind the trees to port, a car zoomed up a county road that twisted away from the river. She couldn’t keep from smiling. Ever since she’d escaped Redemption, she couldn’t get enough of the sights and sounds of the land.

She spotted the next mile marker buoy. Only 71? Damn. Good thing the meet isn’t until nine o’clock tonight. Might take us that long to get there.

A glance at the chart confirmed what she knew. They would reach the staunch Fellowship town of Jefferson City about noon. Not the greatest timing. Only one of the challenges this trip entailed.

So reckless to take the Lady halfway to Kansas City, but that was Miranda’s decision. Beryl snorted. So glad to not make those kinds of decisions anymore. And as long as the weather held, no slow traffic got in the way, and Murphy’s Law stayed away—they’d deliver their passengers on time. Not soon enough, but at least it was a relatively short trip.

Birds chirped. A soft, warm breeze caressed her skin. She inhaled the fresh scent of damp earth. One could almost imagine the Fellowship didn’t exist.

“Good morning,” an unfamiliar female voice called.

Beryl spared a quick glance behind her.

The girl refugee, Leslie, stood on the main deck close to the doors to the salon.

Attention back on the water, Beryl remembered her manners. “Good morning.” What is the refugee doing outside? Does she want to be seen? Or does she plan to argue about the Azrael again? “Living dangerously?”

“Wanda said it was safe to come out now. She said I could hang some wet things on the clothesline.”

“Sure.” Beryl guided the boat past yet another rock jetty. “But we’ve got less than ten minutes before we pass the next Fellowship town.”

“I’ll hurry.” The girl noisily clambered up onto the locker.

The squeal of the retractable clothesline sounded. Soon, clothes snapped and popped in the breeze and the girl’s footsteps retreated into the salon.

That was okay with Beryl. She wasn’t much of a conversationalist. In fact, she wasn’t much of a people person either. Ten years in Redemption’s isolation cells had seen to that.

Flap-flap. Redemption also had made her acutely aware of sounds. She glanced over her shoulder. Two pairs of blue jeans, two shirts, and two jackets fluttered in the breeze. His and hers?

The boat pitched against waves. She concentrated, scanned the waters over and over. The miles passed slow and steady.

Honk-honk-honk. Honk-honk. A flock of geese flew over them. Headed south.

She couldn’t fault Miranda for helping her brother. But we damn sure shouldn’t be here. We should be headed south too. Headed to their winter hideaway on Isla Mujeres’s carefree beaches. Trouble waited for them upriver. She could feel it.

Coming Soon

The current crisis notwithstanding, my hope—my plan—is to publish If I Should Die in the late fall. If you would like to stay up-to-date on my progress and be part of my advanced readers team, please sign up for Burrows Insiders.

What’s Your Vote?

If I Should Die, chapter 6 is as far as I had planned to take these sneak peeks. I had hoped the need to shelter at home would have passed by now. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is here to stay awhile. As always, I wish safety and health for you and your loved ones. Please take a moment and vote in the comments below. Should I continue sneak peeks with If I Should Die? Yes or No?

Sneak Peek, If I Should Die Chapter 5

TGIF! Though these days Fridays don’t feel the same, do they? However, this Friday is your Sneak Peek, If I Should Die Chapter 5 episode. (If you don’t want to wade through the recap, skip down to Chapter Five.)

If I Should Die is book 2 in The Fellowship Dystopia Series (formerly called the My Soul to Keep series.) It’s the continuation of Miranda’s story.

ReCap

Chapter One: Miranda pilots her yacht, the Lady Angelfish, up the Missouri River to rescue her brother, but the U.S. Coast Guard and a Second Sphere agent stop her for a “routine” inspection. You can watch me read the entire Chapter One or read a brief sample.

Chapter Four: After Miranda rescues her brother, he insists she’s in danger because his refugee claims that the Azrael are being reborn. Beryl reminds him that they destroyed the island with all the equipment and records for how to clone Azrael. Miranda can’t help but believe that since they had a Second Sphere agent on board the Lady Angelfish early in the day who didn’t recognize them, they are safe. You can watch me read the entire Chapter Four or read a brief sample.

If I Should Die, Chapter 5

By Lynette M. Burrows, © 2020

Irene walked out of Garfinkel’s Department Store hand-in-hand with her daughters. Each of them carried a small bag with new shoes. Annabelle had a scowl on her face, but Sandra kept up a nonstop happy chatter. Shopping in DC was nothing like Buenos Aires. She missed the colorful shops and especially the open-air market. But the teachers’ conference day gave her an excuse to do things with her girls. Not a cloud marred the blue sky above and the spring-like temperature made this close to a perfect day. Perfect despite Annabelle’s dislike of shopping for shoes.

Irene didn’t want the day to end. A glance at her delicate gold wristwatch put a smile on her face. She’d told the chauffeur to pick them up at three. They had another half-hour to kill. Where should we go? She scanned the street. Half-a block down, a neon sign shaped like an ice cream cone hung above a small shop. “Girls, what do you say to some ice cream?”

Annabelle’s scowl lightened. “Can we have whatever we want?”

Irene grinned. “Banana Splits coming up.” That ice cream confection had been new to Annabelle just a few months ago. It had quickly become her favorite.

Soon the three of them sat at in chairs with heart-shaped wire backs at a round, pink table. The little shop teemed with happy, chattering people. They buzzed back and forth over the display case, oohing and ahhhing at the dozens of flavors and toppings. They ordered ice cream cookies, ice cream cones, and scoops of ice cream.

Irene took a small bite and let the cold creamy strawberry flavor melt in her mouth.

Annabelle attacked her banana split with precision. One bite from the chocolate scoop, one from the strawberry, and the next one from the vanilla.

Sandra dug into a pile of whipped cream and chocolate sauce covered banana. Spoon over-filled, she jammed it into her mouth, leaving a whipped cream mustache behind.

Annabelle giggled.

Irene thought her heart would explode with joy.

A brilliant flash of light blinded her. She blinked, tried to clear the dark spots that danced in her vision. Boom! The glass window shattered and showered the room with glass.

A blow hit Irene, knocked the wind out of her. Rocked the table. Sounds around her had a hollow, down-in-a-barrel quality.

Air whooshed out of her, out of the room.

For a split second, time stopped.

Her ears popped.

Screams and shouts roared.

She gasped, sucked in air. What just happened?

Her pulse roared in her ears and slammed against her chest.

Sprays of shattered glass covered the table.

Covered Irene.

Peppered Sandra’s hair.

Sandra screamed and flailed her arms.

Irene leaped to Sandra’s side. She didn’t seem injured—no blood, no part where it didn’t belong. Wrapping her arms around her daughter, Irene murmured soothing sounds, kissed the top of Sandra’s head, and searched the room. Irene’s pulse raced faster and faster. Annabelle? Where is Annabelle?

Be Safe

The video for Sneak Peek, If I Should Die, Chapter 5 will be up by next Friday. I hope you’ve enjoyed these little bits of work that I’ve shared. More than that, I hope you and your family are safe and well. Thank you for reading!

Sneak Peek: If I Should Die Chapter Three

I hope you enjoy this Friday’s Sneak Peek If I Should Die Chapter Three. If I Should Die is my current primary WIP (work-in-progress). This sneak peek is part of a six-week project in which I share parts of this story. I look forward to your comments and reactions.

This yacht looks similar to Miranda’s. It is for sale in Portland.

What’s the Book About?

Miranda has built a successful Freedom Waterway across the inland waters of the United States. Refugees from the religious oppression of the Fellowship find safety and freedom aboard her boats. But now her brother needs rescued so he can complete his mission. She’s committed to helping him, but she’s a peace-loving woman. Will she resort to violence and save lives or stick to her principles and sacrifice many?

ReCap

Chapter One: Miranda pilots her yacht, the Lady Angelfish, up the Missouri River to rescue her brother, but the U.S. Coast Guard and a Second Sphere agent stop her for a “routine” inspection.

Sneak Peek: If I Should Die, Chapter Three

By Lynette M. Burrows © 2020

Dark thunderclouds and rain blanked out the world beyond the Lady Angelfish, except when a burst of lightning cracked. Beryl did a practiced two-and-a-half step timed with the rock and sway of the boat and followed Miranda out onto the deck. A gust blew the rain slicker’s hood off Beryl’s head. Drenched in seconds, the wind blew and glued a wisp of hair to her face. She smiled. What happened to her didn’t matter. Miranda, on the other hand….

“You will get yourself captured or killed.” Beryl shouted over the torrent of rain drumming on the deck.

“He’s my brother. I can’t leave him out there,” Miranda’s shout cut through the wind that whistled around the Lady’s cabin.

“He hasn’t signaled. Maybe he was delayed.”

“Or captured, or in danger, or—his batteries died while waiting for us.”

“Maybe he’s hunkered down until the storm passes.”

Miranda looked up from the swim platform to Beryl. “You got somewhere else to be?”

She answered with a smile. I won’t leave you, Miranda. Not like she did her daughter. You want your brother? We’ll get your brother. She gripped the rain-slicked safety rails and descended the three steps to the swim platform. Waves broke over the platform. Flooded her deck shoes. Chilled her feet.

Miranda untethered the dinghy from the edge of the Lady. The little boat swung in the wind, held only by the crane-like davit. She punched the davit’s control and lowered the dinghy into the water.

Beryl grabbed the closest edge, the boat’s gunwale, pulled it close to the platform.

Miranda climbed in and struggled against the wind to detach the boat from the davit’s lifting harness.

The dinghy’s a large target. “It’d be safer to swim or walk across.” Beryl side-eyed the shore less than fifteen feet away. Too dark to see what waited there. “Anchor a little closer—”

“I will not risk taking the Lady closer to an unknown shore. The current’s strong, but you and I could swim it… and I know David is a strong enough swimmer. But are you prepared to carry the refugee through this current?”

Beryl screwed her mouth to the side, acknowledged Miranda’s point.

Miranda released the lifting harness, then grabbed the swim platform railing to hold the dinghy in place.

Beryl climbed aboard.

The wind buffeted them and the little boat bounced unnaturally. Thunder rumbled long and loud. And the rain drilled them and sizzled on the gurgling river water. It tested Beryl. Her smile faded and she white-knuckled the gunwales.

Miranda grinned and guided the boat toward shore. The little boat’s trolling motor fought the chop and slowly crossed the water.

Beryl had never grown to love life on the boat, not the way Miranda did. But Beryl tolerated it, would continue to tolerate it, for Miranda.

Three feet from shore, Beryl took her pistol out of her holster to keep it dry. Hopped into knee deep water. She gasped. Chill bumps raced along her skin. Determined, she sucked in air and pulled the dinghy behind her. In three strides, the waves lapped her ankles. She gave the boat a mighty tug and beached it. Hand up to Miranda for “stay put.” Pistol safety off, trigger finger alongside the trigger guard, she stepped further inland—barrel first.

A Work-in-Progress

What you read here is a work-in-progress, meaning it’s an early draft. It has not had the final edits and polish that the published version will have. Some things may end up on the “editing floor” and not appear in the book at all. If you missed the earlier chapter, you can catch up. Chapter 1. Chapter two.

Readings

Originally, I had intended that this series of posts would be an adjunct to videos of me reading these chapters aloud. As you know, my video production came to a screeching halt on the first week because of technical issues. The good news? I overcame the technical issues. Video one is out. I hope to “catch-up” the recordings in short order.

In video one I read the entire first chapter of If I Should Die.

Stay Tuned

I hope Sneak Peek: If I Should Die, Chapter Three brought you a little break from the fear and difficulties surrounding the C-19 virus crisis. Please stay aware of how stressed you are. Take breaks from the 24-hour news. Use the telephone or internet to stay connected to your friends and loved ones. Find a small pleasure and a moment of gratitude every day.

I take pleasure in my morning cup of coffee, in the comic antics of my dogs, and in communicating with my friends and loved ones. Thank you for coming by—for reading—for listening.

In these trying times, one can’t predict what will happen next. The plan is that If I Should Die will be published in the late fall of 2020. Stay tuned here for reports on my writing progress. The sneak peek at chapter four will posted here next Friday. Please leave a comment to let me know how you are doing.

A Sneak Peek for Your Entertainment

The COVID-19 virus is here in the world. All that will matter when this is over is how we behaved during this crisis. It’s time to circle our wagons and open our hearts. I’m offering a little diversion, a sneak peek for your entertainment.

My Hope For You

My husband and I have self-quarantined. It’s not a choice. He’s got many health issues that make him at very high risk should he contract COVID-19.

I hope that each of you have also self-quarantined, that you’re safe and healthy. That your loved ones and dear friends are safe and healthy. And I hope and pray that all of you stay that way.

What I Can Do

I can’t do a grand gesture that will feed thousands or pay off someone else’s mortgage or any of those wonderful things so many warm-hearted people are doing right now. I can’t even do much in the way of small gestures. What I can do is share my stories. No, I can’t make them free…I do have to eat and keep a roof over our heads. But I can offer you a little diversion. A sneak peek for your entertainment. At least, I hope it’s entertaining.

Each Friday for the next six weeks or more. I’m going offer a bit of my WIP, If I Should Die.

Image of the Fellowship Shield from the sneak peek for your entertainment

My Work-in-Progress

If I Should Die

by Lynette M Burrows

Copyright 2020

Storm clouds blotted out the sunset and the last of the day’s light. But Miranda Clarke, captain of the Lady Angelfish aka Serenity, had a rendezvous to keep. She eased the throttled down a little more. Turned on the boat’s spotlight and illuminated the Missouri River’s dark waters. She ran the boat as close to the channel markers as she dared.

Then it appeared. Mile marker 35. Relief loosened the tension in her shoulders.

She grabbed the mike of the VHF radio. “Ladies, we just passed Mile Marker 35. We’re clear of St. Charles.”

“Read you five-by-five,” Wanda, her engineer and chef, answered. “I’ll clear the decks.”

Even on their private channel, they used code. Safer that way.

St. Charles, Missouri was a major Fellowship stronghold so they’d assumed their alternate personas. The Fellowship flag flew beneath the American one. On the table in the salon, a copy of a New Testament for Modern Times lay open to the Book of Samuel. Pictures of the Prophet Samuel hung in the salon and the Captain’s quarters. And anything that might identify them as SABR rebels hid in secret compartments.

Miranda replaced the mike. She longed for the day this ruse wouldn’t be necessary, but for now she focused on the river. She wanted this, their last refugee pick-up of the season, to go especially well.

Be-boop. Be-boop. The bleat of the two-toned alert from the VHF radio startled her.

“This is the U.S. Coast Guard. Serenity, heave to. Over.”

She sucked in a breath and tightened her grip on the wheel. Crap. An over-the-shoulder glance took in the running lights outline of a USCG cutter two-or-three cable lengths behind them. It plowed the river between its overgrown banks, headed straight for them. Lousy timing. She wished she could tell David that their thirty minute ETA just became an hour or more….

My intention is to publish this novel late fall 2020. Watch my If I Should Die book page for updated information.

If you’d like a sneak peek at inspirations for this book visit Pinterest.

As always, my books are available on Amazon and all the online stores including Walmart. If you’ve already read my stories, consider buying a story by some friends of mine: William F Wu, Robert Chilson, Jan S Gephardt, G.S. Norwood, or Jenn Windrow. And if you don’t buy from them, buy from another author. Many authors don’t have pension or retirement funds or even health insurance. They depend upon readers to buy their books. And if you’ve read a book, take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads or even a short “I liked it” post with a picture of you holding the book on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

The Plan Didn’t Quite Work

Welp, I made a video. I made lots of videos of me reading this chapter aloud. Unfortunately I’ve made about every mistake a beginner can make and the video was rejected by YouTube. I’ll work on this and hope I can produce a video soon.

The Next Sneak Peak for Your Entertainment

Stay tuned for next week’s episode. Hopefully, I’ve learned what not to do and next week my video will be accepted and posted at the regular time.

4/3/2020 Edited to add: I’ve finally been able to load the video. Chapter one read aloud. And you can read the beginnings of chapter two and chapter three.

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek for your entertainment. Please tell me how you’re managing the isolation in the comments below. And thank you so much for reading.

Progress Report One: Book 2 of The Fellowship Dystopia

I’m really enjoying the writing right now. It’s fun to “play” in a world already populated with strong female characters on both sides of good and evil. What am I working on, you ask? The second book in the Fellowship Dystopia series. This is the first official progress report for that book.

Book Two

Currently titled, If I Should Die, continues the story of Miranda and Beryl about two years after the first novel, My Soul to Keep. The story sentence is

A peace-loving woman caught in a civil war must resort to violence to save lives or stick to her principles and sacrifice many.

My first draft is currently a little more than 38,000 words in length. Which is about 4/10ths of the estimated length of 100,000 words. Some characters from the first novel reappear and there are new characters to meet. Visit my Pinterest page for a sneak peek at inspirations for the characters and locations.

Characters

My recent Character Reveal posts featured characters I’ve developed for this novel.

Covers

Not only am I writing the first draft, I’m researching cover design and cover designers. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my cover for My Soul to Keep. But it’s not selling very many books. So I’m researching to see if I can keep that cover or if I need to have it re-designed. I have to make a decision soon if I want to have the cover done soon enough to publish in the late fall this year.

What do you think?

Since life is challenging me with new responsibilities, I wanted to give you a Progress Report. Do you like this kind of Progress Report? Would you enjoy a once a month or once every two or three months progress report? Would you prefer a progress bar on my website? If you were me would you change the cover for My Soul to Keep? So many decisions! Help me out in the comments please.